Apparatus for transmitting power.



I J. DUNLOP. APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING POWER.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 30, 1909. a

965,285; Patented July 26, 1910.

. I Q g s INVENTOR, WWNESSR; JAMES DUNLOP,

ran srnrns;

nnnmsroun, GLASGQ/W, scornaun.

nrranarus non rnansmrrrr'ne rowan.

eeaaee.

"To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jams DUNLOP, a subject of the of Great Britain and Ireland and residing at Dennistoun, Glasgow, Scotl vented a certain new and useful Im rovement in A paratus for Transmitting l ower, of which t e following is a specification.

his invention relates to apparatus for transmittin power by. means of compressed air in a c osed circuit, the invention, al-

. though applicable in connection with engines of other kinds, having for its rimar object to provide improved means or ena ling constantly runnin internal combustion engines-to e used or variable and intermittent work, e. 9., for operating locomotives, rolling mills, ships machinery and thelike. he said ap aratusis des1gned to work With air initial high pressure, e. 9., about 150 lbs. per square inch-the higher the pressure the greater the economy.

The primary elements constituting a complete installatlon according to the invention are :An internal combustlon en -ne; an air compressor; valve actuating mec anism for the compressor, and a compressed air. motor.

'Fi ure 1 of the accompanyin drawin is a iagrammatic view showing y way 0 example an installation embodying the invention: Fig. 2 is a section through the valve chest of the air compressor. I

Referring to the drawing, A and B are cylinders of an internal combustion engine and air compressor respectively, disposed end to end and combined integrally with one another. The cor-res onding pistons A and B, whichare singlia acting, are also in one, the compressor piston B-' being formedby an annular shoulder projecting from the engine piston A" so that the two erform their working strokesin-opposite "rections.

A and A are res o ening and the ex t e en e.

ectively the inlet valve aust valve opening of The inlet or distribution valve of the air.

com ressor is constituted by fitted specification of Letters Patent. a lication filed A ril 30,1909. serial m.

King ofthe United Kingdom 1 and, have 'in-' y compressed to a relatively able variation valve C} .is of I Patented July 26,. with. estate.

tion of said eccentric 1) relative to the throw of the engine crank shaft F bein capable of alteration through a ran e of 180 by the operation of skew gears G, of difi'erent Width, the narrow wheel being connected to' a handle G and being movable end'wiseand feathered on the valve shaft E and meshing with and receiving motion from the wider wheel G which is fixed on the cank shaft F, so that when said narrow wheel G is moved longitudinally it is also constrained to make an angular movement and moves therewith the eccentric D.

As will appear from the. drawing, when the eccentric is set at 90 behind the throw of the crank as shown in Fig. 1, the comressor draws in a full stroke volume of air or compression: but when the eccentric is 90 in advance of the crank the compressor does not compress any air and, consequently, will do no useful work. According to the relative angular positions of the eccentric and the crank-shaft any volume of air from full-stroke volume to zero may be admitted to the compressor cylinder, so that by suitof such relative positions the power and speed of the compressed air motor may be regulated in accordance with the demand.

The distribution valve H for the compressed air motor X is of the iston type and is actuated by means of a ink motion in which the curved link J is concave to- 7 Ward the crank shaft of the motor, afl'ording two positions for the slide block within the link at which th ated, namel the end positions of the b ock within the ink, so that, when the sliding e motor can be oper- Y blockwhich engages the" slot-in the link 7 is in one of the extreme positions, the mo tor will run in a forward" direction, but, when the block is moved to; the other end of the slot in the link J, the direction of rotation of the-motor will be-reversed. The distribution valve H is shifted" from thapcrsition of-tull operation when the said block is moved away from either of the" two-entreme positions, and when said block 1s m a position midwa between the two ends of the slot in the l' so far tothe ri ht hand side of the air motor valve cham er K that a by-pass valve K of the mushroom 1s opened and thereby allows escape o t ecompressed' air from'the inlet side to the exhaust side of -the air motor without any work being done inside the motor cylinder.

In order to prevent loss of heat by the air.

in its passage from the compressor cylinder to the com ressed air motor cylinder, or, if

- form of a chamber 0 surrounded by a wamosphere.

ter 'acket O.

e initial charging of the circuit with air at any pre-determined pressure is effected in the following manner :Alongside the piston valve 0* of the compressor is an automatic lift valve P forming a supplementary inlet valve which controlsoommunication between the clearance space of the air compressor and the chamber '1: below said valve P two other valves Q and R are fitted, and of these the valve Q controls communication between the chamber T and the return pipe ofthe closed circuit, while the valve R controls the opening to the at- Bymeans of a lever S one or other of these two valves Q and B may be opened. When .the eccentric D is adjusted so that it is 90 in advance of the crank on the shaft F, then the upper side of the piston valve C will be exposed to the clearance space of the compressor cylinder B during the whole of the downward stroke of the com ressor piston B: the air is thus prevented rom enterin the cylinder, except through the-lift valve. If, now, the valve It is opened, and the valve Q is closed air at atmospheric pressure will be admitted into thecompressor cylinder by way of the valves R and P. During of the compressor piston, the air-will be discharged to the air-motor exhaust pipe N by way of the under side'of the piston valve 0, and, passing through the air cooler, the compressed air motor valve chest, the b ass valve K and the air heater, will final e trapped by the air delivery valve 2 which 1s situated directly over the piston inlet valve G'.. This action may be continued until the whole system has become changpld e with .air at any required pressure.

valve R ma then be closed, and the valye Q opened. en this has been effected the action of the compressor is merely to raw air from the underside of the piston valve (3' past the valve P I and to 'scharge it again by way of the valve C, to the undersition of the eccentric,

'at any 'ing at less than full load, and, by such openby means 0 the upward stroke said crank shaft for-said compressor,

ceases side of that valve. This is the cycle of operation when the internal combustion engine is running idle. For any other poexcept 90 behind the crank, this action will continue to take place to a reater or less extent as the eccentric is ad usted in one direction or the other. When the eccentric is adjusted to a position 90 behind the crank, the compressor cylinder will receive a full charge at each stroke of the piston, and the whole cylinder contents will be heater.

The atmospheric valve it may be opened time while the compressor is working' of the valve, any loss of air due to leakage ma be compensatedfor.

. It Wlll be observed that the air is not worked expansivel but is admitted into the air motor cy inder throughout practically the whole length of the pistons stroke. Ordinarily, this would rove a very inefficient way of employing t e air ressure, but in the present system, the a vantages WhlCh would arise from the expansion of the air within the cylinder have already been obtained by reason of the compression of the air to the desired working pressure.-

That is to say, in a closed circuit, compression of any one volume of air can only take place simultaneously with the expansion of an equal volume, or, in other words, the energy .which is not expended in the air motor is still available in the form of pressure and temperature in the air in the return pipe to the com ressor.

Having now descri ed my invention what I- claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is;-

1. In apparatus for transmittin power compressed air, the com ination of an air compressor and a compressed air motor connected together in a closed circuit, an engine for driving said compressor a crank shaft for said compressor, a valve shaft for said compressor, a valve for said compressor connected to said valve shaft, and manually operable means for varyin the angular relat on of saidvalve shaft an time of movement of the valve.

2. In ap aratus for, transmitting) by means of-compressed air, the com ination of an air compressor and a compressed air motor connected together in a closed circuit, an engine for driving said compressor a crank shaft for said compressor, a va vs a valve for said compressor connected to said valve shaft, skew gears in mesh with one another and in driving connection with the valve shaft and crank shaft, and manually operable means for effecting. lative'displacement of said .gears in axial direction so as to vary the shaft and thereby varying the discharged into the air power iso erable means for varying angular position of the valve shaft relatively to the crank shaft and thereby vary the time of movement of said valve.

3. In apparatus for transmitting power by means of compressed air, the combination of an air compressor and a compressed air motor, inlet and outlet pipes connecting the compressor and the motor in a closed circuit,

an engine for driving the air compressor, an air heater on the outlet pipe comprising a chamber connected to the exhaust side of said engine and having a passage for the air,

' an air cooler on the inlet pipe, a crank shaft for said compressor, a valve shaft for said compressor, a valve for said compressor connected to said valve shaft, and manually opthe angular relation of said valve shaft and said crank shaft and thereby varying the time of movement of the valve.

4. In apparatus for transmittin power by means of compressed air, the com ination of an air compressor, an engine for driving said compressor, a compressed air motor, inlet and outlet pipes connecting the compressor and the motor in a closed circuit, a valve for controlling the delivery of compressed air by said compressor to the circuit,

manually operable. devices for moving said valve, a distribution valve for said motor, a by-pass between said outlet and inlet pipes, a valve normally serving to close said bypass, and actuating mechanism for said distribution valve adapted at will to simultaneously shift the distribution valve and open the by-pass valve,

5. In apparatus for transmitting power by means of compressed air, the combination of a compressed air motor and an air compressor' connected together in a cl'osed cir cuit, an engine for driving said compressor, a valve for controlling the delivery of compressed air by the compressor to the circuit, manually operable devices for moving said valve, pressor, means for reversing the functions of the distribution valve,and a supplementary inlet valve for said compressor adapted to be automatically operated at such tlmes as the distribution valve is in a position at which less than the fullstroke volume is compressed by the compressor so as to main tain the pressure in the compressor cylinder equal to the pressure on the exhaust side of the motor.- a

6. In apparatus for transmitting power a distribution valve for said comby means of compressed air, the combination said chamber and the atmosphere and between said chamber and the return pipe of the circuit.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES DUNLOP. Witnesses:

WALLACE CRANSTON FAIRWEATHER, JOHN MCCLEARY, Jr.

closed circuit, 

